I’m fed up with talking about the weather, but I can console myself with the fact we have grabbed every opportunity so far and progress is not too bad.Natural England powers could be clipped by Tories
A CONSERVATIVE Government would cut unnecessary Defra spending on quangos and executive agencies such as Natural England.
Nick Herbert, Shadow Defra Secretary, said tough economic times would lead to spending cuts across all governmental departments, including Defra, but added there were substantial efficiency savings to be made throughout the agricultural department.
He said the powers of quangos such as Natural England had spiralled out of control, where they had become ‘political lobbyists’, and pledged the Tories to review dozens of publically funded bodies to determine their worth.
“We have a questionable situation where Defra quangos are lobbying Defra. The next Government needs to take a steely-eyed look at the work of quangos and determine what their roles really are,” he said.
Bodies such as the Agricultural Wages Board, Natural England, the RPA and the Environment Agency would all face Tory scrutiny.
Mr Herbert said that a proliferation of government bodies had created a congestion of costly regulation and confusion to farmers.
“There are too many people with clipboards running around the countryside telling farmers what to do,” he said.
Mr Herbert’s comments came at the launch of the NFU manifesto for the upcoming General Election.
Presenting the manifesto, Peter Kendall, NFU president, said he too would like to see the next government carry out a full ‘capability review’ of Defra’s executive agencies and ‘an explanation of their role, function and areas of duplicated work’.
He said: “As budget cuts come forward, we need to see value for money. We want efficient delivery of services for the countryside.
“When I see Natural England having a large policy section I ask if that really is the best use of our money. Defra should be developing policies and its agencies should be delivering them,” he said.
However, Hilary Benn defended Defra’s agencies, including Natural England, when he said they were simply specialist advisors. “They do not lobby, they advise, that is their job,” he said.
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